Strategic Planning Group LLC Grows Stock Position in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. $GS

Key Points

• Strategic Planning Group LLC increased its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. by 18.4%, owning 9,129 shares valued at $6,461,000 after purchasing additional shares in the second quarter.
• Goldman Sachs recently announced a quarterly dividend increase to $4.00 per share, up from $3.00, representing an annualized yield of 2.0% and a payout ratio of 35.26%.
• CEO David M. Solomon and COO John E. Waldron sold shares of the company, reflecting a decrease in their ownership, with Solomon's sale totaling approximately $4.7 million.

Strategic Planning Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE:GS - Free Report) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,129 shares of the investment management company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,417 shares during the period. Strategic Planning Group LLC's holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group were worth $6,461,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 2.2% in the second quarter. Masso Torrence Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,214 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,567,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the period. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group by 59.8% during the 2nd quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,978 shares of the investment management company's stock worth $7,770,000 after acquiring an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in The Goldman Sachs Group by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 31,479 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $22,279,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Rooted Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of The Goldman Sachs Group during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in The Goldman Sachs Group by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 2,447 shares of the investment management company's stock valued at $1,732,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. 71.21% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

The Goldman Sachs Group Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of The Goldman Sachs Group stock traded up $0.20 on Monday, hitting $805.20. The stock had a trading volume of 1,150,956 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,696,610. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $739.87 and a 200 day moving average of $640.52. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. has a twelve month low of $439.38 and a twelve month high of $809.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.74, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 0.67 and a current ratio of 0.67.

The Goldman Sachs Group (NYSE:GS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The investment management company reported $10.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $9.82 by $1.09. The Goldman Sachs Group had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 12.37%.The business had revenue of $14.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.53 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.62 EPS. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. will post 47.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The Goldman Sachs Group Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be issued a $4.00 dividend. This represents a $16.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.0%. This is a positive change from The Goldman Sachs Group's previous quarterly dividend of $3.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.26%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on GS. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group in a report on Monday, July 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $680.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Evercore ISI set a $715.00 price target on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from $785.00 to $855.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of The Goldman Sachs Group from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, July 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $665.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO John E. Waldron sold 9,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $750.11, for a total value of $6,934,016.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 115,268 shares of the company's stock, valued at $86,463,679.48. This trade represents a 7.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Denis P. Coleman sold 7,463 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $724.40, for a total value of $5,406,197.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 18,594 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,469,493.60. This represents a 28.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,323 shares of company stock valued at $28,111,828. Company insiders own 0.55% of the company's stock.

The Goldman Sachs Group Company Profile

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc, a financial institution, provides a range of financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide. It operates through Global Banking & Markets, Asset & Wealth Management, and Platform Solutions segments. The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, corporate defense activities, restructurings, and spin-offs; and relationship lending, and acquisition financing, as well as secured lending, through structured credit and asset-backed lending and involved in financing under securities to resale agreements.